Apparatuses for Hybrid Wired and Wireless Universal Access Networks

Abstract

A gateway switch comprises: two or more transceiving modules, wherein each of the transceiving modules is capable of transmitting and receiving data, wherein the data is an analog signal or a digital signal, and wherein each of the transceiving modules provides a different network connection type; a system module for processing the received data in accordance with one or more rules; and a switching module for symmetrically switching the processed data from any one of the transceiving modules to a selected one of the transceiving modules for transmission of the processed data; wherein the system module selects one of the transceiving modules for the transmission of the processed data as a function of the rules.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE[0001]This application claims priority to and is a continuation in part from a Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) application entitled “A Hybrid Wired and Wireless Universal Access Network” filed on Jan. 31, 2008 and having an Application No. PCT / US2008 / 052701 and a PCT application entitled “A Gateway Switch for Hybrid Wired and Wireless Communications” filed on Jan. 31, 2008 and having an Application No. PCT / US2008 / 052695. Additionally, this application claims priority from a United States provisional application entitled “A Hybrid Wired and Wireless Universal Access Network” filed on Jan. 31, 2007 and having an Application No. 60 / 898,959 and a United States provisional application entitled “A Gateway Switch for Hybrid Wired and Wireless Communications” filed on Jan. 31, 2007 and having an Application No. 60 / 898,874. Said applications are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to systems, methods, and apparatuses for a hybrid w...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]The various embodiments described below address the above-described problems with respect to building a hybrid wired and wireless universal access network. The objective of such a network would serve as an enabling network, superimposed over various existing networks for network access and network and service interworking, while the network is self-contained to form a network by its own, and to also serve as a multi-purpose platform network over which many existing and future innovative applications and business models can be enabled for communications, computing, and control for a wide range of applications.

[0014]A gateway switch comprises: two or more transceiving modules, wherein each of the transceiving modules is capable of transmitting and receiving data, wherein the data is an analog signal or a digital signal, and wherein each of the transceiving modules provides a different network connection type; a system module for processing the received data in accordance with one or more rules; and a switching module for symmetrically switching the processed data from any one of the transceiving modules to a selected one of the transceiving modules for transmission of the processed data; wherein the system module selects one of the transceiving modules for the transmission of the processed data as a function of the rules.

Problems solved by technology

A long-standing challenge however remains of the Internet access problem, specifically the “last mile” problem.

A key challenge of WLAN is the wireless coverage capability as each access point can only cover a limited area, typically a few hundred feet in distance due to fundamental radio transmission limits.

Additionally, it is a significant technological and financial challenge to backhaul each access point with wired connections to the Internet.

There are, however, some key challenges to building such a network in terms of network performance, financial requirement, and operations complexity.

First, when connecting a user to the backbone network via multiple hop wireless links, the connection performance (e.g., bandwidth, throughput, and / or delay) is severely degraded as the number of hops increases, which is especially the case when considering wireless link quality that is time-varying and unstable (e.g., prone to interference from the surrounding environment).

As a result, the number of wireless hops must be upper-bounded, hence the scale of a wireless mesh network is limited, and the sophisticated networking technologies must be implemented and maintained.

Second, as the number of hops for a connection is limited to improve the scalability of a wireless mesh network, a substantial portion of access points needs to be wired to the backbone network.

Third, from the network deployment operations perspective, to deploy a large number of access points in a commercial or “open space” area, not only does the deployed access points need to be maintained and managed, thus incurring substantial cost, but municipal governmental approvals may be needed to be sought and granted to make such a network deployment feasible.

Lastly, from a node's perspective in a mesh network, it is difficult to build a universal gateway switch that can access different types of services over different networks such as mobile cellular networks, public switched telephone networks (“PSTN”), cable networks, WiFi / WiMax wireless networks, and the Internet.

It is also difficult to enable the service access and service interworking among the above-mentioned networks, and to facilitate the convergence of different services over different networks toward the Internet.

Therefore, the operations complexity and associated cost to build a high-performance conventional wireless mesh network can be horrendous.

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